Hey lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Nanette
Littlestone and her new book, “Bella Toscana”!
For other stops on her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click
on the banner above or any of the images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the
end of this post to enter to win a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Nanette
and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
Bella Toscana
by Nanette Littlestone
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GENRE: Women's Fiction
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BLURB:
An explosive yearning that can’t be denied.
Disturbing visions from an ancient past.
A mysterious stranger that somehow feels
familiar.
On
the night of her fiftieth birthday, the comfortable ride of Toscana’s life
takes an alarming plunge. Haunted by seductive visions, she tries to push aside
the desire and focus on the husband who adores her. Then she falls for Flynn, a
younger man with an eye for adventure and a heart full of romance, who leaves
her doubting everything she’s believed about love and passion.
In
Atlanta, Rome, and the lush scenery of Tuscany, Toscana searches for answers to
the mysteries of her life while she faces her biggest question. If she listens
to her feelings will she lose everything she holds dear, or does her heart hold
the key to love and joy?
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EXCERPT ONE:
I
loved him before I knew him.
Some
people talk of synchronicity. The rhythm of life. I know of rhythm, in the
lyricism of words, in music, in the ebb and flow of the ocean, in the monthly
cycles of plants and trees. A beautiful orchestration exists in the simplest of
nature. But my world operates on logic, practicality, reason. I do not believe
in a grand plan. I do not believe in God.
And
then he came.
Before
him, I had a well-ordered life. Habit and routine carried me through the day,
warmth and comfort eased me through the night. There were disappointments.
Longings. Not all was perfect. But such is life. If there was no great passion,
so be it. Peace is preferable to something wild that soars then fizzles and
leaves you with an aching heart. I had a different kind of love—security,
respect, admiration, friendship.
He
showed me my lies in a slow creep of warmth that grew and teased and eventually
began to burn. The thought of him burrowed deep inside me until I could think
of nothing but him.
To
this day I don’t think he knew what would happen. How do you know what fate has
in store for you? They say man has free will to act, to choose, to create whatever
he desires. But what of other people’s actions, choices, desires? What if those
choices conflict with your own? We tried to resist the seemingly magnetic pull.
We did our best to act rationally, to behave with honor and dignity. To be
selfless. But love is not selfless.
Love
is selfish. Love craves attention. Love needs to be heard, to be felt. Love is
a natural disaster.
You
may think this is nothing new. We all know stories of love. But this story is
different. This story spans over two thousand years. This story began in
ancient Rome.
So
I beg you, for as long as it takes to read this story, to put aside your
beliefs. Something took hold of me, pulled me along. Was it fate? Destiny?
Divine intervention?
Look
to your own heart for the answers.
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GUEST POST:
For the Love of Chocolate
(written in the voice of Toscana Blake from Bella Toscana)
Do you love food? I don’t mean is it good to eat. I mean do you
LOVE food, the way it tastes, smells, looks, feels?
I’m
Toscana Blake, owner of Dolcielo, a store in Atlanta, Georgia that sells all
kinds of Italian sweets. Dolcielo is a combination of two Italian words, dolce, which means sweet, and cielo, which means heaven. So Dolcielo
is Sweet Heaven, a place where you can indulge your senses and fall in love
with Italian foods—amaretti, pizzelle, torte di mele, panettone.
I don’t make all of them but baking fills my heart with joy. With food I can give
the world my love and the world will love me back.
When
I was little I would bake with my mother. Her hands were so deft, so sure, and
I would wonder how my chubby fingers would ever find that assurance. But she
would smile at me and nod at my clumsy efforts and tell me she believed in me.
“You will be a great cook someday, figlia
mia,” she said. When I told her about my love for brownies, however, she
cursed in Italian and slapped my hands. But that didn’t stop me.
I
love chocolate. Adore it. Chocolate is the food of the gods. Theobroma cacao.
Good chocolate is an absolute pleasure. It’s heaven. When I started baking, all
I knew was that you bought squares of chocolate at the store, ready to use. I
had no idea that it grew on trees. The cacao tree grows large pods that contain
purple beans. The beans are separated from the pods and left to ferment for
about a week. After fermentation, they’re dried in the sun for another five to
seven days. Then they’re roasted and graded and the shell is removed. The nibs
are then ground and liquefied, which results in the chocolate liquor. From the
liquor you get cocoa solids and cocoa butter. To get that smooth, smooth
chocolate that you’re used to eating takes blending. A lot of it. You mix the
chocolate liquor with cocoa butter and sugar (for sweetened chocolate) and then
add conching (grinding with metal beads). Then you temper the chocolate to give
it sheen and crispness.
There
are many types of chocolate from milk to dark to white. And many brands. Some
of the best for baking are Valrhona, Callebaut, and Guittard. When I bake my
signature brownies I use unsweetened Guittard chocolate, a high-end American
brand. Good chocolate for good results. They’re dark, rich, and intense, almost
like eating fudge. But, oh, so good. And there are six flavors, all with fruit,
nuts, and liquor, and all with Italian-sounding names: Amureo – apricot,
Amaretto, and almonds; Bellasanti – cherry, Cherry Heering, and pecans;
Celesola – pineapple, Bacardi Gold, and macadamia nuts; Donamato – plum, Kahlua
Especial, cinnamon, and walnuts; Elegrazia – cranberry, Triple Sec, and
walnuts; and, for the purist, Divina – just divine dark chocolate.
Baking,
for me, is like meditation or a prayer. My hands seem to know the routine but
my mind gets lost in another world. I’m transported by the smells and feel of
the ingredients, the soft cloud of flour, the slippery eggs, the sharp shards
of chocolate, the richness of melted butter. As I stir and whisk I think of my
mother and her mother and my relatives in Tuscany who have cooked for
generations, who revere their food and wine, who embrace the gustatory delights
and rejoice in each other’s company. I still remember being there when I was
thirteen, seated with all the adults at my grandmother’s table, holding hands
for the blessing before the meal. And my grandmother said, “A tavola non s’invecchia.” At the table
with good friends and family you do not become old.
I hope you’ll come to love your food, and
your chocolate, as much as I do. Buon appetito!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
Nanette Littlestone never
knew she wanted to be a writer until she was over forty. But once she began,
the ideas didn’t stop. Her fascination with relationships, history, and the
spiritual path has opened her writing to women's fiction, historical fiction, and
inspirational nonfiction.
A
native Californian, Nanette lives in Atlanta, Georgia, far from the beach
(which she loves) but a place that’s warm with spectacular scenery. On the
professional side, she helps entrepreneurial women write and get published with
Words of Passion. On the fun side, she takes walks with her husband, cooks,
plays with graphic design, and makes origami butterflies. She loves to travel,
but she’s waiting for the teleportation machine to whisk her off to Greece or
Asia. In the meantime, she’s happy with dark chocolate and romantic movies that
make her cry.
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CONNECT WITH NANETTE:
Website & Newsletter:
Blog:
Email:
nanette@wordsofpassion.com
Facebook:
LinkedIn:
BookBub Author Page:
BookBub Book Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
The Book Depository Paperback:
BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:
Powell’s Paperback:
Alibris Paperback:
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Nanette will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC
to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this
blog. This does not cost you anything,
it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteNanette ~ Hi! Welcome! It is so great to have you here! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Ally,
DeleteThanks so much for hosting me and Bella, and Happy Valentine's Day!I hope you and all the followers have a wonderful day filled with love and chocolate.
Sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Rita.
DeleteA question for the fans - how many different kinds of chocolate have you tasted? What's your favorite? (I'm looking for a new brand of dark chocolate, so let me know what you like!)
ReplyDeleteGreat excerpt! And to answer your question, I loooove chocolate and make it my mission to visit different chocolate shops whenever I travel so I've tasted loooottsss of different kinds but my favorite would have to be Belgium chocolate.
ReplyDeleteVictoria, thanks for responding to my chocolate question. Belgian chocolate is superb! Do you have a favorite brand?
DeleteAlly, it's been a pleasure hanging out with you and the fans. Thanks so much for the opportunity. Have a great rest of the night!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful book cover and intriguing excerpt - I need to know what happens! Love the discussion about chocolate - I *love* really good chocolate!
ReplyDeleteHi Sue,
DeleteThanks so much for the glowing compliments! So from one chocolate lover to another, what brand is your favorite?
A friend of mine made a cake using Guittard chocolate and it was the best chocolate cake I've ever tasted.
DeleteRegarding candy, I once got a gift of Jacques Torres chocolates that were so delicious and memorable. More readily available at local shops, my favorite chocolates are from See's Candy and Godiva. Some day I'd love to visit Europe and try Belgian and Swiss chocolate.
Sue,
DeleteGuittard chocolate is what Toscana uses in her brownies (what I used when I had my brownie company). It's wonderful! I've certainly had See's (my dad's favorite to buy my mom) and Godiva (I used to love Godiva!). I don't think I've had Jacques Torres but they look really good. Our favorite eating chocolate now is Chocolove - my husband likes the Orange Peel and I alternate several flavors, with a lot of 70% plain to try to be healthier (if you possibly can). I would love to visit Belgium and Switzerland and do a chocolate tour.